Heart-wrenching: Queen Raina of Jordan comforts Anwar Tarawneh, wife of the pilot who was brutally murdered at the hands of ISIS militants, at her late husband’s ancestral home near the southern town of Karak
The Jordan Times
2/5/2015
AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania paid her respects to the family of the Jordanian martyr Captain Muath Kassasbeh during a visit to the town of Ai in Karak on Thursday.
The Queen expressed her deepest condolences to the pilot’s mother, sisters and wife, assuring them that Muath will remain in the hearts and memories of all Jordanians as a hero who sacrificed his life defending his country and religion, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s office.
…Speaking to The Independent on Thursday, Ms Tarawneh said she was at a sit-in protest being held in support of Kasasbeh on Tuesday when she received a tearful phone call from her mother.
By then, her 26-year-old husband had been an ISIS hostage for five weeks after his aircraft was shot down over Raqqa. Concerned that something was wrong, she checked her mobile.
‘It was only when I opened Facebook on my phone that I saw the post,’ she said…
Air force fighter jets fly over Amman, Karak after airstrike mission against IS
Royal Jordanian Air Force jet fighters returned home after launching airstrikes against targets of the so-called Islamic State terror group.
The fighters flew over Amman and the southern governorate of Karak, the hometown of pilot Muath Kasasbeh, the Jordan TV said in breaking news, following the missions.
The planes flew over Amman and Karak in the afternoon.
The state TV did not specify the sites the fighter jets hit, but media reports said Jordanian planes targeted IS in the Syrian city of Raqqa, a stronghold for the terror group.
Jordan has released a slickly-edited video that shows its war planes being prepared for bombing strikes against Islamic State jihadists in Syria.
The footage, understood to have been broadcast on state TV, shows troops messages on plane-mounted missiles before the fleet of fighter jets are launched from the base.
The mission – dubbed Operation Martyr Moaz in memory of the pilot brutally killed by ISIS – is the latest show of force from the nation, which has promised a ‘harsh’ war against the terror group.
It comes just hours after Jordanian fighter pilots made a diversion over the hometown of their murdered comrade, Moaz al-Kasasbeh, on their return from an air raid this morning.
Dozens of jets bombed ISIS training centers and weapons storage sites in Syria and struck targets neighbouring Iraq for the first time – intensifying attacks against the militants.
The assault came after Jordan’s King Abdullah II visited the grieving Kasasbeh family in Aya village…
The tribute came as Jordan’s King Abdullah II (centre) visited Moaz al-Kasasbeh’s grieving family including his father, Saif (left) – in Aya village and one day after he vowed to wage a ‘harsh’ war against the militants
